delivery. Every chapter ofAn Introduction to the Human Serviceshas been revised
and updated with a new chapter structure, the latest information, new case exam-
ples, and more. The chapter structure includes Self-Assessment sections at the end
of each chapter to help students measure their comprehension after reading. A
“Want to Know More?”section, also at the end of each chapter, provides students
with resources for further study. We revised the content and format of the Web
exploration boxes to help students find the most current sites that describe the
topics relevant to the text material. Finally, the revised Key Terms and References
sections ensure that students are learning from the most current material in the
discipline.
New case examples have been added to several chapters, and many that
appeared in previous editions have been updated with relevant new information.
Case studies were revised to reflect the current context in which human service
occurs. For example, the case of Susan and Ted is written in clearer language to
make the case easier to follow. The case describes problems so complex that use
of all three models of service delivery must be integrated to address all of their pro-
blems. The case represents what we now know about mental health and substance
abuse issues, as well as the influence of the economic downturn. The first-person
accounts introduce how individuals deliver services. In Chapter 3, Cathy Hamlin
writes about what she learned during her human service work in Angola. Allison
Anders, also in Chapter 3, shares information about her work with Burundian ref-
ugee children and parents in a city school setting. In Chapter 6, Amanda Nalls
describes her experience as a military personnel officer in Iraq, and Ellen Carruth
recounts her experience working with the persistently mentally ill.
Additional revisions focus on four dimensions of human services: multicul-
tural, current trends and issues, service delivery, and development of the profes-
sion. The changes of each of the four dimensions are integrated into the text and
cases to present a holistic picture of a dynamic field.
In this edition there is a continued emphasis on the multicultural dimensions of
human service delivery. This includes additions to Almeada’s case, introduction to
World Bank efforts to advocate for gender equity in developing countries, and
information about Native American traditional healing as a form of helping inter-
ventions. Many of the cases in the text were revised to capture the multicultural
characteristics of helpers, clients, and the helping process. We provide concrete
strategies for developing a cultural competence and working with clients from
other cultures.
Current trends and events also framed revisions to each chapter. Human ser-
vice delivery exists within a political, economic, and social context that is continu-
ally changing. For example, to capture these new trends, we moved the managed
care section from Chapter 3,“Human Services Today,”to Chapter 2,“A History
of Human Services,”reflecting the acceptance of managed care in service delivery.
We revised our discussion of welfare reform, added a section on political partisan-
ship, discussed the influence of President Obama and his administration on the
delivery of human services, expanded our description of homelessness, and inte-
grated the influence of the economic downturn into text and cases. We described
the changing workplace and outlined how these changes create challenges for
human service agencies and clients served.
PREFACExiii
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